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REGULAR MEETING February 81", 2016 growing economy, but still presents challenges. Internal Service Funds are a category of expenditures to keep an eye on as that includes the cost of health care. There has been a leveling off the past two years but that is mainly due to the City losing the Zoo employees and the 911 employees. Health care per employee is still rising. The new Healthcare Clinic, recently opened, is designed to help get those healthcare costs under control. Since the City is self - insured even one or two major healthcare issues can be noticeable and hopefully this clinic will help catch those large cases early on. The single biggest revenue stream of the total $290,000,000 is charges for services, making up around twenty -nine percent (29 %). These are water, sewer, and trash fees for the most part. Property taxes, the single biggest tax the city collects, stood around twenty -five percent (25 %). Local income taxes are growing in importance to the overall city budget. The bulk of expenditures is on Utilities and Public Safety. Regarding the General Fund specifically, which the City has more discretion over how funds are allocated, the vast majority is going to Public Safety. These funds are almost totally raised by property taxes so they are very hard to replace. In 2020 the State's final property tax cap, of which the large portion happened in 2008 and 2009, will kick in. The estimated loss in General Fund revenue is $2.54 million dollars. The estimated Parks & Recreation loss is $510,000.00. The estimated TIF Funds loss is $3.8 million. Local income taxes have become more important in the overall make up of revenue for the city. The total of the local option income taxes in South Bend is 1.75 %, the state max for local option income taxes is 2 %. South Bend has very high cash reserves at over 50% of expenditures. This is very high for a city our size and one of the highest in the state. In per capita outstanding debt South Bend is in a decent position, around the middle compared to other comparable Indiana cities. This is true for long -term debt as well. The city had 1,069 employees last year which is down over the past years because the Zoo and 911 were taken off the city books. Taking into account those losses, the City has remained steady after the big drop off in 2008 and 2009. A majority of full time employees are in Public Safety and the next largest is Public Works. Parks & Rec. had eighty -eight (88) full time employees, of course that does not account for the many part time and season employees they hire over the summer months. South Bend has an AA bond rating which has saved tax payers millions over recent years as the City qualifies for lower interest rates. Looking at the top five (5) second -class cities in Indiana, four of the top five (5) are wealthy Indianapolis suburbs and then relative lower income South Bend as number three (3). This is a credit to successive Administrations and Councils who have kept the City in good financial shape. South Bend received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Fishers is the only other city in the state of Indiana who received both of those awards this year. The Mayor provided a link to all available financial reports. The entire budget down to the dollar is available online. In addition to that, the City also has opened up our checkbook and put that online as well, which is not required by law. This allows specific expenditures to be available to the public and interested parties. The City is also looking into populating a Popular Financial Report as well to be more user friendly for the average citizen. Each Councilmember was given the opportunity to ask the Mayor three questions. Councilmember Dr. Varner asked if the potential shortfalls factored in any growth. The Mayor responded the City selected a middle ground for growth of one (1) to two (2) percent for these projections. Councilmember Dr. Varner asked if we have seen net assessment growth from the millions of dollars spent on redevelopment over the past few years.